


A Trip to the Zoo

by Fanty_Writes



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged Down Characters, First Years, Fluff, Gen, HQ Brofest Rookie Tier, I tried tagging as many of the relationships as I could, Rookie Tier, let me know if you need more of them tagged, seijou third years, why did I think juggling 12 characters was a good idea?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 13:42:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14190216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fanty_Writes/pseuds/Fanty_Writes
Summary: Oikawa paused as he was about to take a bite out of his milk bread, “You want us to what now?”Matsukawa looked to his three friends with his usual neutral expression, “Chaperone a trip to the zoo for my sister.”Oikawa bit into his favorite snack looking unamused, “So we’re going to be watching over a bunch of babies?”OrThe seijou third years chaperone a school trip to the zoo. What could possibly go wrong?





	1. How Bad Could It Be?

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so i got good new and bad news  
> Bad news: This fic ended up longer than I was expecting and only managed the first chapter cuz life has been hectic and I don't think I can hammer out two more chapters before the event closes.
> 
> Good news: I did Rookie tier and I met my word count!!!!!! Honestly expecting to only barely reach a thousand with the whole fic but well I'm a bad judge at length and the story took a life of its own. 
> 
> Even more good news: The whole story is outlined, just need to write out the rest of it and hopefully i can get it updated soonish after i update my other ongoing fic .. .  
> I am sorry . . . but cross your fingers it doesn't take a year * nervous laughter*
> 
> Thank you to crackpairingprincess for betaing

Oikawa paused as he was about to take a bite out of his milk bread, “You want us to what now?”

Matsukawa looked to his three friends with his usual neutral expression, “Chaperone a trip to the zoo for my sister.”

Makki looked at him raising an eyebrow, “Doesn’t your sister teach kinder or something like that?”

Matsukawa nodded stirring his cup of coffee, “More like daycare, they’re around three years old, and one that’s around one.”

Oikawa bit into his favorite snack looking unamused, “So we’re going to be watching over a bunch of babies?”

Iwaizumi hummed. “Doesn’t sound too bad. We could probably help her out.”

Oikawa whined, “But Iwa-chan, I have better things to do than watch a bunch of babies!”

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes, huffing. “You volunteer coach on the weekends.”

“Yeah but those kids won’t puke on me or require diaper changes.” Oikawa retorted with a pout.

Hanamaki cut in with a wide grin, “Well there was that one time that kid got nervous and hu-“

Oikawa shrieked tossing himself over the table to cover Hanamaki’s mouth, remembering that one game a year ago. It was the kid’s first game and they couldn’t help if their nerves got the better of them, “We do not speak of that!”

Matsukawa smiled at him, “They’re really sweet kids. Potty-trained, for the most part. The only one that might require diaper changes is the one year old. Besides, she promised to find something in her budget as compensation.”

Oikawa perked up at the mention of compensation. He wouldn’t mind watching over a few stinky babies if it meant he would get paid. Before he could ask how much they were getting he was cut off.

“Tell her not to worry about it, we wouldn’t mind watching over them.”

Oikawa looked to Iwaizumi with wide eyes, his neck nearly snapped turning to Makki next when he hummed in agreement.

“Yeah, and if she needs help with the one year old, tell her I can take care of it. I’ve been helping my cousin with his kid. I don’t mind a few dirty diapers.”

They all turned to Oikawa waiting for his response. The brunette in turn looked between the three of them, already knowing the answer, “So we’re not getting paid.”

Iwaizumi shook his head not surprised, “No, we’re not.”

“Fine.”, He grumbled to himself crossing his arms and sliding back on his chair, “Better not get covered in vomit _again_.”

Hanamaki snickered, “Oh come on, green with carrot chunks is definitely a good look on you.”

Matsukawa and Iwaizumi both laughed hard, “It really is.”

Oikawa groaned, “I show all three of you my love, and this, this is how you repay me!”

They all laugh loudly. Matsukawa smiled to all of them, “Alright, I’ll tell my sister. Saturday, meet at 8, at the zoo.”

Saturday came fast, and Oikawa, Iwaizumi, and Hanamaki found themselves waiting outside of the zoo entrance. Iwaizumi looked down to his watch, “It’s almost 8, they should be here soon.”

They waited a couple of more minutes scanning the entrance which slowly became more crowded as more guests formed a line. It wasn’t too hard to look over the heads of the people passing to spot Matsukawa.

Hanamaki grinned waving at his best friend, “Yo, Mattsun over here.”

Both Oikawa and Iwaizumi turned in the direction Hanamaki was waving in. It was quick pinpointing Matsukawa, seeing as he not only towered over most of the crowd but also had a toddler on his shoulders. Next to him his sister, Sayaka, was obviously preoccupied with trying to herd a bunch of children together. The three looked to each other deciding it would be a good idea to go to them.  They walked through the crowd of people, quickly making it over to them and finally saw the small children in an array of excitement as some were hopping and cheering happily around Sayaka, who also had a baby strapped to her chest.

When Sayaka finally noticed them a look of relief washed over her face.

“It’s so good to see you boys. Thank you for doing this.”

Oikawa smiled, “Of course we’re more than happy too. This is the least we could do, it really is no big bother.”

This earned an eye roll from both Iwaizumi and Hanamaki while Matsukawa shook his head from behind his sister.

Sayaka hummed clapping her hands together, “Alright then! Children these are going to be your chaperones. You all know Issei. Now these are his three friends. Oikawa Tooru, Iwaizumi Hajime, and Hanamaki Takahiro.”

The three boys waved at the kids, quickly greeted by waves of hellos and giggles.

Sayaka hummed, “Alright, so I went ahead and divided the kids. Each of you will get two.”

They all nodded as Sayaka continued, “Issei already has his two. The little boy on his shoulder is Kunimi Akira, and the boy clutching his pant leg is Kindaichi Yuutarou.”

Kunimi didn’t seem to acknowledge them, peacefully resting his head on Matsukawa’s. Kindaichi waved from his spot uttering a quick hello. The boys waved back smiling down at the toddler.

Sayaka nodded at her brother returning her attention to the three other boys, “All right, Oikawa-san you’re getting Tsukishima Kei, and Yamaguchi Tadashi.”

They both stepped forward. Oikawa smiled at them and crouched down to meet them, “Hello boys, are you ready for a fun day!”

Tsukishima looked up at him with a blank expression, “Whatever.”

Oikawa’s smile twitched , “Okay then, how about you?”

Yamaguchi tried to mimic Tsukishima but Oikawa could tell there was an underlying shyness which was cute on the little brunette, “Whatever.”

Oikawa reached his hands out to hold onto both their hands as Sayaka read off the next group, “Alright. Hanamaki-san, Issei told me you’re okay with handling a baby so here you go.”

Hanamaki took a hold of the baby as Sayaka began undoing the straps to the harness. They maneuvered the small child so that Sayaka could get the carrier securely strapped to Hanamaki’s chest. “This is Kageyama Tobio, the youngest of the whole group.”

Makki extended a finger in front of the young boy. Kageyama looked at it curiously before grabbing it. Makki smiled and took the small hand between his finger and thumb, moving his hand up and down,

“It’s very nice to meet you.”

Sayaka beamed at them handing over the diaper bag, he was going to be a natural with Kageyama, “Here you go and here.”

She handed Hanamaki what appeared to be an orange leash attached to a redheaded child. He looked back to her in confusion, “And this is Hinata Shouyou.”

Hinata walked up to him hugging his leg, simultaneously trying to climb up and waved at him, “Hi! You’re tall!”

Hanamaki chuckled, “Hello.” He looked back up to Sayaka, “Uh...why is he on a leash?”

Sayaka didn’t even bat an eyelash as she smiled, “He’s on the more...rambunctious side and this will keep him from wandering off.”

Hanamaki nodded, not fully understanding but accepting of it.

Sayaka turned her attention to Iwaizumi and pushed a red leash into his hand, “This is Haiba Lev. Despite his height he’s still only 3 and, like Shouyou, one of our more rambunctious kids.”

He’s greeted by a tall boy for his age with white hair. If it weren’t for the fact he was one of Sayaka’s kids he would have easily mistaken him for a first grader. He stared up at him observantly with a piercing gaze that could resemble a cat’s. It was slightly unnerving, but Iwaizumi pushed a smile onto his face.

“Hey.”

“You’re the shortest one.”

The other boys hid their snickers as Iwaizumi tried to let the comment slide and not show how it affected him, “Yeah, they’re just slightly ta-“

“Or you’re just a dwarf Iwa-chan.” Oikawa purred

Iwaizumi growled at him, reminding himself that there were children around and he would not be the reason they developed any colorful language, “Shut up, dummy-kawa.”

Oikawa pretended to be scared shoving Yamaguchi and Tsukishima behind him, making a show of trying to protect them. Tsukishima made a disgruntled sound while Yamaguchi giggled.

“Iwa-chan in front of the children?”

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes and huffed, Sayaka smiled at their antics she had no doubts the children would have fun under their care.

“And finally.” She pushed forward a little blond girl who had ran behind her, “This is Yachi Hitoka. She’s a bit shy but I bet she’ll warm up to you fast.”

Yachi looked up at the big man in front of her who just a minute ago was growling at his friend. She fiddled with her fingers. The man was scary and she didn’t want to end up on his bad side, especially with how much bigger he was than her. And there had to be a reason why the other man pushed Tadashi and Kei behind him.

Iwaizumi tried to smile as gently as he could, noting how skittish little Yachi seemed.

“Hello.”

She squeaked, practically jumping in her skin. She lifted a hand, the other clutching to her chest, “He-Hello.”

She felt a hand on her back pushing her forward to Iwaizumi’s side. It would only be for the trip, she would be fine, she repeated to herself. She just needed to make sure she didn’t make the man angry.

Sayaka hummed, feeling confident that the kids would be okay under their watch, “All right that’s everything, I need to talk with the zoo director, so you guys can go ahead.”

The boys nodded parting ways from Sayaka as they ushered the kids past the gates and into the zoo, Iwaizumi making sure to grab a map as they entered.

They didn’t walk far until they’re greeted by a sea lion display. Hinata and Lev tried to run up to the glass display to get a better look but are quickly held in place when the leashes reach their full length. Makki and Iwaizumi were both tugged forward, having to widen their stances to keep the two from pulling them along. Lev and Hinata kept pulling at their leashes, trying to get closer to the display with unchallenged determination.

“Looks like they just selected our first exhibit.” Makki grunted as he tried to keep a firm hold on the leash. Damn, this kid was strong for his size.

Iwaizumi hummed in agreement. The group walked towards the exhibit with lev and Hinata still pulling their leashes taut. The second they reached the display, the two toddlers pressed their faces against the glass marveling at the sealions zooming by, and gracefully cutting through the water. The rest of the children followed, gathering around to watch.

The boys stood directly behind them watching for a few moments as the kids were left awed by one zooming by. Matsukawa broke the silence, “It might be a good idea to begin planning which exhibits to look at first.”

Iwaizui nodded, “Yeah, just let me do something first.”

He knelt behind Lev. The toddler was snapped out of his revelry when he felt Iwaizumi remove his harness. He grinned wide, quickly returning to watching the sealions. Hinata seemed to notice and looked to Makki with a pleading look. Makki felt guilty but all he could offer was an apologetic smile and nod.

Oikawa raised an eyebrow at his friend, “Uh, why are you taking that off?”

Iwaizumi shrugged, “Seems kinda cruel to have him on a leash you know?”

Hanamaki made a sound to his side. He looked at the leash in his hand then down to Hinata, who had returned to watching the sealions. His head was leaned against the glass and Makki could make out a small pout through the reflection.

“I know what you mean, but there has to be a reason Sayaka has them on these.”

Oikawa hummed crossing his arms, “You better not lose yours, Iwa-chan.”

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes with a huff, they were only three how bad could they be? “I won’t. Besides, they’re toddlers. How far could they possibly get on their own?”

Matsukawa dead panned, “You have obviously rarely dealt with children, but it’s your call. So long as you think you can take care of him it should be fine.”

Makki nodded jabbing a finger towards Oikawa, “Besides, you have experience taking care of Oikawa.”

Oikawa whined, “What have I ever done to you!”

Hanamaki and Matsukawa snickered to the side as Iwaizumi got them back on topic.

“Alright, so exhibits.”

He brought out the map, unfolding it for all of them to see. The zoo was large with quite a few exhibits the kids would enjoy. There was a variety of animals, from tigers to elks. There was even a reptile house they could check out later. They each studied the map, deciding which would be the best route to take. From the entrance, the zoo branched off into three different paths. The left and middle eventually converged while the third seemed to circle back to where it began at some point.

They were interrupted when Kageyama began fussing. He swung his legs against Makki, bapping at the map in front of him, “Moo!”

All the boys jumped back slightly not expecting the sudden outburst. Makki rubbed Kageyama’s stomach trying to calm him down, grabbing at the toddler’s little fist, “Hey now calm down. Moo? You want to see cows?”

Oikawa snickered, “Aw, that’s adorable but he won’t see cows here.”

This earned Oikawa a glare from the small child, who got riled up by the statement, “Moo!”

Hanamaki attempted to hush him again as Kageyama began to thrash in his harness. He turned to his friend hissing, “Would you please not provoke him, you’re not the one he’s attached to.”

Oikawa gave him an apologetic smile, “Let me try again then.”

He leaned in front of the baby who had a deep-set frown. Who knew a one year old could have such a bad case of resting bitch face?

Oikawa smiled, “Now, Tobio-chan. We’re at a zoo. They don’t have cows here. So we can’t see moos. Okay?”

Kageyama didn’t seem to like that answer. He slapped Oikawa on the head, grabbing fistfuls of the setter’s hair and yanked at it, simultaneously chanting, “Moo! Moo! Moo!”

Oikawa screamed, “Ow, ow, ow! Do something!”

Makki tried to unlatch Kageyama’s little hands but the toddler had a strong grip on Oikawa, ”I’m trying. Why is something this tiny this strong?!”

Iwaizumi and Matsukawa tried to help but Kageyama was reluctant to let go.

“Oikawa, hold still!” Iwaizumi barked.

“Tell him to let go then!” Oikawa retorted.

The outburst managed to snap the kids out of their fixation with the sea lions. They all crowded together, watching three teenage boys trying to wrestle Oikawa out of a one year old’s grip.

They all blinked up at them and Lev spoke up, “They’re pretty stupid.”

Tsukishima hummed, “For once, I agree with you.”

They continued watching, Yachi sank back behind Lev, “The-They’re not going to hurt Tobio a-are they?’

Lev looked behind him before turning back to where the boys were trying to free Oikawa from the child’s strong grip, “I mean, our person has pretty big arms. I’ve seen people like him in papa’s shows rip stuff apart easy.”

Lev made a tearing sound spreading his arms apart for emphasis. Yachi yelped feeling the familiar feeling of her eyes watering. She didn’t want them to hurt Tobio. What would they do if they hurt him? What if they came for them next?

Yamaguchi noticed his friend going into a panic so he placed a hand on her back, “Don’t worry he’ll be fine, besides it looks like they’re losing anyways.”

Kindaichi stepped next to her, smiling at her, “Akira is up there, too. I know it doesn’t seem like he cares much, but he’ll stop him.”

Yachi looked to both of them with watery eyes, “You, you think so?”

Tsukishima spoke up, “They’re 4 times Kageyama’s size and they’re losing.”

Hinata jumped in, “Not to mention the guy taking care of us seems really nice!” he looked down with a pout, fiddling with his baby leash, “But I wish he would take this thing off.”

This managed to get Yachi to giggle, her nerves momentarily soothed by her friends. The kids turned their attention back to the spectacle that was their babysitters still furiously trying to separate Kageyama and Oikawa.

“Makki! Mattsun! Iwa-chan!! Make him let go!”

Iwaizumi growled, “What do you think we’ve been trying to do?”

Matsukawa groaned, “He’s got a strong grip.”

Makki tried to pull Kageyama’s hand away, “We can’t hurt him.”

Oikawa whined, “Ow, ow, ow, but he’s hurting <i>me</i>!”

The kids all blinked up at them. Tsukishima was unimpressed and bored, “I’m going to the reptiles.”

Kindaichi looked at him surprised and quickly grabbed for his shirt, “You can’t.”

Tsukishima turned around raising an eyebrow, “And why not?”

Kindaichi huffed, “We need to stay here, we can’t just get separated.”

Tsukishima rolled his eyes, “I’ll be in the reptile house.”

Kindiachi tried to protest but Lev jumped on his back, “If Tsukishima gets to go see the lizards I want to play with the tigers.”

Hinata gasped next to him, “I want to go too!”

Lev began skipping in the direction of tiger exhibit. Hinata wanted to run to catch up to him but was stopped by the leash. He frowned yanking at the arms of the lion wrapped around his chest . He tugged at the arms. He’s seen Sayaka put it on him and off he could do this. He fumbled at the arms yanking on them with all his force. When that didn’t work he tried maneuvering the straps off him, but it was on tight. Hinata groaned trying again. He shut his eyes slowly sliding his arm out of the first strap. It was a tight squeeze and he could feel the strap suffocate his arm but he could do it. He grinned excitedly when his arm was finally freed. He moved to the second one, removing it much more easily this time. He shimmied out of the rest of the harness and stepped out, starting his run in the direction Lev left in.

Tsukishima watched the two wander off before he began his own walk to the reptile house, “Tadashi, are you coming?”

Yamaguchi looked up, following immediately.

“Coming, Tsukki.”

 He turned around when he heard a whimper. He noticed Yachi beginning to tear up again, “Uh Yachi-san, would you like to come?”

Yachi turned between him and their caretakers, “Bu-but, Tobio.”

Yamguchi walked over to her, grabbing her hand with a wide smile, “He’ll be fine, come on. This way you won’t be alone with the scary man.”

Yachi thought about it for a second. Lev ran off already, and she didn’t want to be left alone with him. She nodded, letting Yamaguchi pull her along.

Kindaichi looked nervously in the two directions his friends departed in. They couldn’t get separated like this. He should tell their chaperones, but they were still occupied with painlessly removing Kageyama from Oikawa. He wished Kunimi was down on the ground with him, he could probably help . . . maybe.

Kindaichi tried to think rationally. Well, as rationally as a three year old could.

Tsukishima could probably take care of himself on his own. Yachi and Yamaguchi weren’t troublemakers, so they would be fine. Lev and Hinata on the other hand...could get into serious trouble. If he ran fast enough he could probably catch up with them. Now where was the tiger exhibit and which direction did they go in?

After a few more tugs, Oikawa yelped stumbling back. He rubbed at the stinging sensation on his head as he looked up, meeting the toddler’s eyes.

Kageyama frowned with small fists holding a few strands of brown hair, “Moo!”

Oikawa stalked forward, “Listen you-.” He hissed in pain when he felt a hard smack to the back of his head, “Iwa-chan!”

Hanamaki scolded from the side, covering Kageyama’s eyes with his hands while Matsukawa did the same with Kunimi on his shoulders, “Not in front of the kids!”

“Sorry.” Iwaizumi scowled at Oikawa, “Quit picking fights with the baby.”

Oikawa huffed crossing his arms like a petulant child, “He started it.”

Matsukawa raised an eyebrow in disapproval, “And who’s the adult?”

Oikawa looked away disgruntled. Iwaizumi sighed.

“You can uncover their eyes now. Let’s gather all the kids and-.”

The boys looked down at the ground, heartbeats accelerating as they began to realize there was a sudden absence of children. They slowly began to go into a state of panic. They did not seriously just lose a bunch of toddlers in a crowded zoo.

Iwaizumi looked around frantically, “Where the hell did they go?!”

Hanamaki scolded again, covering Kageyama’s ears, “Language!”

Iwaizumi groaned, “Sorry, but do you honestly think he understands? We also have bigger things to worry about!”

Matsukawa deadpanned, “They can be sponges, don’t forget Kunimi is here.”

Kunimi looked bored from the top of Matsukawa’s head, staring back at iwaizumi almost judgmentally.

“Right. Sorry. Just, where did they go?”

Iwaizumi turned around to find Oikawa already frantically searching, even checking the trash can calling the names of his kids.

Hanamaki sighed, “On the bright side we still have Kunimi, Kageyama, and Hina-“

He pulled on the leash slowly realizing it was feather light. He reeled it in, only greeted by the small stuffed lion that had originally been clinging to the toddler. He stared at the stuffed toy like it personally offended him before he turned back to the group.

“Okay bright side, we still got two.”

Everyone stared at the empty leash, dumbfounded.

“How did he even...?”

Oikawa took a deep breath, “Alright, alright. There’s no point in asking questions. We’re wasting time.”

Iwaizumi nodded, “Right, they’re only toddlers they couldn’t have gotten far.”

Hanamaki frowned, “Toddle is in their name, and we don’t know how long they’ve been gone.”

Matsukawa hummed, “If they ran off that means we’re covering quite a bit. And we don’t know if they’re still in a group.”

Oikawa put his hand to his chin taking a moment to think, “Alright looks like we’re splitting up. Makki and I can take the first path and check down the middle. Mattsun and Iwa-chan can take the area near the entrance and the path to the right.”

The boys agreed and split off in their respective directions. Hopefully they could find all of them before they got into any trouble. And before Sayaka found out.


	2. Lev, Tigers, and Moo! Oh My!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Long time no see! Life has been super busy and hectic lately, I'm honestly surprised I Even managed to write this out. I've been in need of a good dose of fluff lately so here you go! Enjoy and thanks to [crackpairingprincess](http://crackpairingprincess.tumblr.com/) for betaing and enhancing the title.

Hinata quickly chased after Lev. For his size, Hinata had always been pretty fast, and rarely the one in the back. Despite the other toddler’s longer legs, he managed to catch up to Lev quickly.

He ran up to the large iron bar fence, placing himself right beside the taller boy who was marveling at the two large tigers enclosed in the exhibit. Hinata beamed, watching the large cats play with a giant pink plastic ball, stopping to occasionally wrestle with each other.

“Aren’t they really cool!” Lev exclaimed from Hinata’s side.

Hinata nodded eagerly, “They’re so big!”

Lev hummed, “I bet they’re really soft, too!”

Hinata turned to look at Lev when he saw the other boy jumping, trying to reach for the top of the fence.

“What are you doing?”

Lev stuck his tongue out of his mouth, jumping again this time his fingertips grazing the rail at the top. He groaned grabbing onto two of the bars and pressed his face between them, “I want to go play with them!”

Hinata perked up, “I want to play with them too.”

Hinata began jumping, getting similar results to Lev, barely reaching the top of the rails. Hinata and Lev shared matching pouts, staring angrily at the top of the fence. It was the only thing keeping them from getting into the exhibit and from making new feline friends. Lev looked down at Hinata then back up to the railing. He turned between the two grabbing Hinata’s attention. Hinata tilted his head in confusion before looking down at himself and back to Lev.

Lev beamed with excitement, “I have an idea!”

Hinata smiled excitedly and turned his body to face Lev, “Really?!”

Lev nodded with a wide grin spread across his face.

“You can lift me up!“ He tried pushing down on Hinata’s shoulder, “Just kneel down and I can step on your back.”

Hinata shoved his hand away frowning, “No, you’re bigger than me and you’ll just go by yourself! Why can’t I stand on your back?”

Lev rolled his eyes, “Well yeah, that’s the point. I can reach with just a little bit more. Even if you stand on me, you still won’t be able to reach because you’re so short.”

Hinata huffed at him crossing his arms and stopping his foot, “I’m not short! You’re just freakishly tall.”

Lev scoffed impatient, “Better than being short. Do you want to play with the tigers or not?”

Hinata pouted and looked down at the ground kicking at it.

“Yeah...”

Lev hummed smiling at him again, “I’ll pull you up when I’m at the top. You just need to jump and I’ll grab you. Deal?”

Hinata furrowed his eyebrows and thought about it for one second. He looked back up with a suspicious look on his face, “Pinky promise?”

Lev nodded with an earnest smile reaching out his pinky, “Pinky Promise.”

Hinata smiled, entwining their pinkies, “Okay.”

The small red head got on his hands and knees in front of the fence as Lev used him like a stepping stool. Lev beamed at how much closer he was to the top of the railing, and took a hold of it.

Oikawa groaned, voice laced with worry, “How far did they go? You don’t think we missed them, do you?”

Hanamaki sighed, having yet again called out the names of the kids.

“I don’t know, we already went up one of the paths. Maybe they took another one.”

Oikawa sighed looking around keeping a watchful eye for any of the kids. He could feel his heart race. The idea of getting in trouble with Sayaka was the last thing on his mind. He didn’t want any of the kids getting hurt just because they weren’t paying attention to them. Yeah, he may have just wanted to stay in bed and sleep in a bit, but it didn’t mean he wanted anything bad to happen to them.

They were nearing the end of the path, meaning they would be turning into the middle path soon. They already passed the displays with a few grazing giraffes, painting elephants, grooming gorillas, a very hyper active otter that Kageyama seemed to like, and a napping bear.

He sighed to himself, just how many exhibits could those kids get through? He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Kageyama.

“Moo!”

Oikawa groaned and turned to Kageyama. Hanamaki gave him a warning look but Oikawa ignored it to look at the child strapped to his chest. Hanamaki placed a hand over Kageyama’s stomach and leaned back as if it could shield the small child.

“There are no cows here, Tobio-chan.” Oikawa said with a frustrated smile.

Kageyama frowned, “Moo!”

Hanamaki sighed, looking pointedly at Oikawa. “Would you quit picking fights with him? It’s just sad.”

Oikawa huffed, “You try explaining to him there aren’t any cows here.”

Hanamaki rolled his eyes annoyed, “There are ways to do just that without getting defensive. He’s one year old.”

 Oikawa frowned at his friend. “You can say that since he didn’t literally yank your hair out.”

Hanamaki deadpanned, “Now who’s fault is that?”

Oikawa pointed a finger at Hanamaki “Look if he wouldn’t insis-“

Oikawa’s eyes drifted off to a spot just above Hanamaki’s shoulder. He recognized that silver tuft of hair, and the little red head. Why was Lev climbing over a fence? Why was he pulling Hinata up with him? And _holy fucking hell, were those tigers?_

Oikawa shrieked, startling both Hanamaki and Kageyama, causing the one year old to burst into tears at the sudden outburst. The brunette dashed past his friend and barreled towards the two toddlers. The adrenaline was coursing through his veins as he sprinted through the crowd, making sure not to crash into any kids or people.

He managed to get there in time as Lev pulled Hinata up by the arm and both toppled backwards. Oikawa threw himself onto the railing catching both boys in his arms and pulled them up and out of harm’s way.

He sighed, placing them both down on the ground gently.

Lev made a frustrated sound and stomped his foot, “We were so close to playing with the tigers!”

Hinata nodded, shouting up at Oikawa.

“Not fair!”

Oikawa was still catching his breath from that small heart attack as he looked down at the toddlers.

“Sorry, but tigers are dangerous to small people, so we have to watch from here. Okay?”

Both Hinata and Lev huffed going back to watch, pressing their face between the rails. Oikawa sighed to himself, at least they were safe now. When he looked up he noticed Hanamaki trotting over with Kageyama out of his carrier and wrapped securely in his arms. Hanamaki stopped in front of them rubbing Kageyama’s back still cooing at him. Oikawa could see Kageyama rubbing his face against Hanamaki’s shoulder before sitting up. His eyes were only slightly red and swollen. Oikawa felt a bit guilty, seeing as he was the reason Kageyama was startled..

Hanamaki smiled at Kageyama now that his face wasn’t tucked against his shoulder, “Better now, Kageyama-kun?”

Kageyama nodded hugging Hanamaki and rested his cheek on his shoulder. Hanamaki hummed to him gently, happy he was calm again.

Oikawa rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, apologizing to both the child and Hanamaki, “Sorry for startling him, didn’t mean to scare him like that.”

Hanamaki shook his head rocking back and forth, “Don’t worry about it.” He looked to Lev and Hinata, “Their little stunt nearly made me jump out of my skin too.”

Oikawa nodded, sighing in relief, “Tell me about it, I’m pretty sure that just shaved a few years off my life.”

Hanamaki chuckled, “Yeah, I know what you mean. Mind putting Hinata back on his leash and holding on to Lev’s hand until we find Iwaizumi and Mattsun?”

Oikawa hummed getting the leash and kneeling down beside Hinata. He got the red head’s attention and smiled, “I need to put this back on now, is that okay?”

Hinata looked between the leash and Oikawa with a pout, “What about Lev?”

Oikawa pursed his lips, “We don’t have his and we can’t have you running off like that again.”

Hinata looked at the small stuffed tiger then back to Oikawa, “But I don’t want it.”

Oikawa looked back up to Hanamaki who simply shrugged.

“He can slip out of it so I doubt it would even make a difference, actually.”

Oikawa ran a hand through his hair.

“Alright, I won’t put It back on, but you have to hold on to my hand the whole time, no more running off.” He looked to Lev. “That goes for you too Lev, okay?”

Hinata beamed and hugged Oikawa, nodding happily, “Okay!”

Oikawa chuckled, hugging him back. He stood up reaching for both Lev’s and Hinata’s hands, “That wasn’t very hard.”

Hanamaki nodded. He could feel Kageyama squirm again in his arms. He was suddenly sitting upright, attentive and hyper focused on something. Makki turned to him curiously noticing that Kageyama was pointing his finger in a in a direction slightly behind him uttering his trademark,

“Moo!”

Hanamaki followed the finger over to a gazelle exhibit and raised an eyebrow. Did Kageyama think gazelles were cows? No, it didn’t make sense but then again he was only one. He was snapped out of his musing as Oikawa groaned. He turned around noticing Oikawa much closer and in Kageyama’s space again. At least he tried smiling and using a softer tone this time.

“Tobio-chan we’ve been over this. There are no cows here and those are gaze-, Hey!”

Kageyama cut off Oikawa by grabbing on to another fistful of hair, insistently pointing at that spot behind Hanamaki.

“Moo!”

Hanamaki sighed completely ignoring Oikawa’s cries of distress and tried following the direction Kageyama was pointing in. He was snapped out again when he heard Oikawa whine loudly.

“Makki, do something, please!”

Hanamaki looked down at him sternly, “I told you not to provoke him and what do you do? You provoke him. Now you’re going to stay like that until he feels like letting go.”

Kageyama tugged at brown locks, still pointing toward the gazelle exhibit.

“Moo!”

Oikawa’s hiss was left ignored as Hanamaki tried tracing the direction Kageyama was pointing in. He took a better look this time. He realized Kageyama wasn’t pointing directly at the exhibit, he was pointing to the machines to the side of it.

Hanamaki looked at Kageyama, “Now Kageyama-kun, keep a good hold on Oikawa and make sure he doesn’t get lost okay?”

Kageyama nodded pulling at Oikawa.

Oikawa groaned, “Makki!”

Hanamaki hummed, “Oikawa make sure you don’t lose Lev or Hinata, can I trust you with that?”

Oikawa hissed, “Yeah, yeah. Just whatever you’re planning, hurry it up!”

Hanamaki began walking in the direction Kageyama was pointing in, “Alright, start moving your legs.”

Hanamaki moved closer to the machine Kageyama was pointing towards and as promised he didn’t let go of Oikawa for one second, keeping a firm grip on the brunette. Hanamaki watched in amusement as Kageyama’s finger narrowed in on one of the vending machines It took the small boy a few moments to find what he wanted and he pointed directly at it “Moo!”

Hanamaki smiled fondly, “So that’s what you’ve been asking for.”

He reached into his pocket trying to find a few coins to put into the vending machine. Once he inserted the right amount he let Kageyama press the button. He knelt so that he could grab the small box, making Oikawa bend down with them.

Hanamaki stood back up handing the small carton for Kageyama to hold. He finally released Oikawa, who sighed in relief as he straightened back up.

Oikawa deadpanned, not sure if he should feel stupid or annoyed.

“You’re kidding.”

Hanamaki hummed, detaching the straw from the box and opening it to poke through the small aluminum circle. The second it was in, Kageyama latched onto the straw and was drinking eagerly from his carton.

Hanamaki smiled down at Kageyama, “Nope, all he wanted was some milk.”

Oikawa huffed, “He couldn’t just say milk?”

Hanamaki looked up, positioning himself so that Oikawa could see the letters printed clearly on the small carton and gestured at the “Moo” printed across the front.

“You gotta respect a kid who knows his milk.”

Oikawa frowned at him before looking back to Kageyama. The toddler seemed so concentrated on his drink, it was honestly cute. He couldn’t stay mad. At least that meant Kageyama would stop saying “Moo” every other minute and he was content.

Oikawa felt a small tug at his hand he looked down to Hinata, pointing and pulling him in the direction of the vending machine.

“Can I have the melon jelly juice?”

Oikawa smiled softly letting go of Hinata’s and Lev’s hand to dig out his wallet and some change. He deposited the money and bent down to pick up Hinata so he could press the button. He placed him back down reaching for the drink in the machine. He opened it handing it to Hinata, who beamed plopping down on the ground to drink out of the pouch.

Oikawa turned to Lev, “Do you want something too Lev?”

Lev looked at him then back to the direction they came.

“I want to play with the tigers.”

Hanamaki snickered and Oikawa shook his head fondly, “No Lev, I meant drinks.”

Lev hummed in understanding before looking at Hinata then back to Oikawa pointing at the red head, “Can I have the jelly but in peach?”

Oikawa nodded getting the change out of his pocket. He did the same with lev, lifting him up so he could press the button, retrieved the drink, opened it and passed it to Lev. He watched as Lev joined Hinata on the floor. Both Hanamaki and Oikawa smiled warmly, they had 3 children safely in their care again, and they avoided one near fatal accident.

Hanamaki turned to Oikawa turning serious again, “We shouldn’t stick around here too long. If they managed to get this far on their own just think about the others.”

Oikawa nodded taking his phone out to check if Iwaizumi or Matsukawa texted anything. He found nothing and sighed.

“Yeah, we should get moving. We don’t need any of them climbing into exhibits again.”

Oikawa typed up a quick message to send to Iwaizumi letting him know they’ve found Lev and Hinata, also making a side comment that he now knew what “moo” meant.

Oikawa pocketed his phone, turning to Hanamaki. “Alright, that takes care of tha-“

“Oikawa-san, Hanamaki-san! There you two are!”

Both Oikawa and Hanamaki stiffened, recognizing the voice instantly. They turned around plastering smiles onto their face as they faced Sayaka.

Oikawa, ever a natural, spoke smoothly, “Hello Sayaka-chan, I hope everything went well with the zoo coordinator.”

 “Everything went well. I see you’ve gotten Tobio-kun his milk.” She looked to the kids with a fond smile waving at them and glancing around, “Where are Issei, Iwaizumi-san, and the other kids?”

Oikawa hummed, not letting himself get frazzled. He’s handled worse after all. What could possibly be worse than losing 6 children in a crowded zoo and 2 of them nearly falling into a tiger habitat? Nope, nothing at all.

“Some of the kids wanted to check out some other animals, and Lev and Hinata wanted to look at the tigers.”

Lev bounced up, accidentally swatting Hinata in the face, “We almost got to play with them too!”

Oikawa’s smile twitched a little, as Sayaka giggled, “Of course you did, now careful there Lev. Apologize to Shouyou.”

Lev uttered a quick apology to Hinata who was rubbing his face. Hinata nodded at him, both going back to their jelly pouches.

She blinked down at them finally noticing the absence of the leashes.

“Oh, they’re off their harnesses?”

Hanamaki hummed stepping forward while bouncing Kageyama on his hip.  “Yeah, they were getting really uncomfortable with them, so we thought we’d let them off of them.”

Like the leashes even kept one of them from wandering off to begin with...

Sayaka nodded with a smile, “I see. That’s fine, but just make sure you keep a very close eye on them. They have this tendency of running off if you take your eyes off them for even one second.”

Hanamaki nodded at her, oh he knew. He took a page from Oikawa’s book and smiled sweetly at her.

“We’ll be sure to keep a close eye on them.”

Sayaka hummed, pleased with the answer, “Alright, I’ll leave you boys to explore with the kids. Need to check on their lunches, so make sure to meet at the food court by 12:15. Pass the message along to Issei and Iwaizumi-san as well.”

Oikawa nodded, “Will do.”

They all waved at her as she walked away. Once she was out of sight both Oikawa and Hanamaki sighed in relief. They managed that well and Sayaka didn’t suspect a thing.

They turned to each other with nervous smiles.

“So we only have less than an hour.”

Hanamaki nodded, humming along, “Yup.”

Oikawa leaned down to grab a hold of Lev’s and Hinata’s hands. “Come on we have to get moving.”

Hanamaki nodded, shifting Kageyama to his hip and quickly typing up a message to Matsukawa.

“I’ll let them know we only have another 40 minutes to find the other 4.”

Oikawa hummed, walking down the rest of the path as fast as the two toddlers would let him go without over exerting themselves. Hanamaki fell into step with them, scanning the area around them in hopes of finding at least one when they finished off the path.

Both really hoped they would find the rest of the missing kids soon, or that at least Iwaizumi and Matsukawa were having much better luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Moo!
> 
> I hope all of you enjoyed ch. 2! I have no idea when ch . 3 will be out so please bare with me! I promise it will get posted eventually and there will be more cuteness!!!!
> 
> come scream at me on tumblr: [ fantasmical-fantasy](http://fantasmical-fantasy.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> Moo!
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed and come scream at me on tumblr [ Fantasmical Fantasy](http://fantasmical-fantasy.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Kudos and Comments are always greatly appreciated! ^_^


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